This application is based on patent application No. 11-37784 filed in Japan, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by references.
This invention relates to a passenger protecting apparatus for use in a vehicle, in particular to a passenger protecting apparatus provided with a head rest driving mechanism for driving a head rest forward according to a pressing contact force generated when the back of a passenger is pressed against a seat back during a rear crash of the vehicle.
Conventionally, there have been known apparatuses for sliding a contact position of a head rest with a passenger""s head toward a center of gravity of his head during a rear crash of a vehicle to effectively support his head by the head rest. These apparatuses are constructed, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-973 such that a pressure receiving belt is formed by mounting a belt between an upper frame and a lower frame of a seat back frame behind a cushioning member mounted on the seat back frame in a seat back of a vehicle seat and a head rest is moved forward according to the displacement of the pressure receiving belt. Alternatively, they are constructed, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-6832, such that an impact absorbing member is provided at the seat back and a head rest mover is provided to slide the head rest obliquely upward at the front part of the vehicle according to the movement of the impact absorbing member to the back side of the vehicle.
The vehicle seat whose head rest is moved forward according to the pressing contact force generated when the passenger""s back is pressed against the seat back during the rear crash of the vehicle has a problem that the head rest cannot be effectively moved forward by the head rest mover if the seating posture of the passenger is improper. More specifically, if the rear crash occurs while the passenger""s back is away from the seat back, the passenger""s back cannot be sufficiently pressed against the seat back. Accordingly, the head rest mover cannot be properly operated, with the result that the passenger""s head cannot be effectively supported by the head rest.
It is an object of the invention to provide a passenger protecting apparatus for use in a vehicle which has overcome the problems residing in the prior art.
It is another object of the invention to provide a passenger protecting apparatus which can effectively support a passenger""s head by a head rest during a rear crash of the vehicle.
According to an aspect of the invention, a passenger protecting apparatus is provided with a head rest driving mechanism for driving a head rest forward according to a pressing contact force generated when the passenger back is pressed against the seat back during a rear crash of the vehicle, a rear crash predictor for predicting a rear crash of the vehicle, and a contact mechanism for making the passenger contact with the seat back when a rear crash of the vehicle is predicted by the rear crash predictor. The contact mechanism may include a passenger moving mechanism for moving the passenger toward the seat back when a rear crash of the vehicle is predicted by the rear crash predictor. Alternatively, the contact mechanism may include an inclining mechanism for inclining the seat back forward of a vehicle body when the rear crash of the vehicle is predicted by the rear crash predictor.
Accordingly, even if the passenger or the driver is bending forward when a rear crash is predicted, his back can be securely pressed against the seat back during the rear crash of the vehicle. Therefore, the head rest can be moved forward by the head rest driving mechanism during the rear crash of the vehicle to effectively support the passenger""s head by the head rest.
These and other object, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparatus upon reading the following detailed description along with accompanying drawings.